Lady Lindy
by liondancer17
Summary: Amelia Earhart met Alfred F. Jones three times before she died, and with each one, she was more and more certain he was not what he seemed. Human/Nation, Amelia Earhart/America (Secret Santa for 2p-talia)


A/N

My secret Santa assignment to the Rare and Underappreciated Ship Exchange! My assignment is to 2p-talian, who requested America/Amelia Earhart! So here we go!

Alfred is a colonel in the army, since he would be a high-ranking officer, but he strikes me as someone who would be out there with the soldiers. So he's not someone like a general, but he's still respected.

Prompt: Missing You

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

He was different, that much Amelia Earhart could tell. She was a trained pilot, she had eyes like a soaring raptor, and she could see the little things others didn't.

Like his eyes.

His blue eyes didn't show her reflection, like others did. His eyes were endless, like the vast sky they both loved so much, yet they were deeper than the ocean, or even space itself. His eyes shone like the stars, and she could get lost searching for a place to land in the endless sky of his eyes.

And yet, something about the fierce intensity, the laser-focused gaze, reminded her of a bald eagle seeing right through the soul of its prey. She shivered when he looked at her with those eyes. She was looking at someone older than the land itself.

He wore a flight jacket, the kind aviators like herself wore, even when he wasn't flying. When she first met him after he came home from World War One, it had been during the celebration taking the streets of Times Square. The Great War was over, the stock market was flourishing, everyone was wealthy and life was good. Amelia Earhart had come to New York to have fun, and that's when she encountered him.

"Lady Lindy!" he had called out to her. Amelia jumped, looking at him with the toughness of a war vet, even though she was a woman, and not allowed to fight in the war.

"Yes? And you are?" she asked, giving him a look fiercer than a red-tailed hawk. He laughed.

"My name is Col. Alfred F. Jones, at your service." he said, giving a salute to her. She laughed in return, shaking her head, making the flaps of her helmet swing slightly. Even now, she had become so used to wearing her cap that she never took it off, much like her new friend did with his jacket.

"And I presume that you think your rank can impress me, soldier?" she asked, smirking at him. Alfred wiggled his eyebrows, giving her a mischievous expression.

"Does it not, Lady Lindy?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Than what will?"

"Hmm, perhaps a show of manliness? Or money, money is always good with winning a lady over." she replied, sticking her nose up in the air like one of those wealthy prudes who fluttered about like peacocks that she had seen growing up. She wondered if that would turn him off, and internally, she rather regretted coming across like this if it would.

Thankfully, he understood.

"Then I want to treat you to a date, Ms. Earhart. Now get yourself in a flapper and let's go!" he exclaimed, winking at her with those endless blue eyes.

Amelia, in turn, rolled hers. "Call on me later, Colonel. Right now, I need the company of my dearest friend, champagne." she said, lifting the firewater to her lips and drinking it down, the burn sweet on her tongue.

Then he was behind her, and her breath was fast with surprise. He laid a bottle of sweet, Italian wine next to her glass, and she could feel the warmth of him, like the Death Valley sun, and he smelled like the sea and sunflowers and roses and New York itself.

"Who are you really?" she asked.

And he smiled.

"The United States of America. And I'll see you to-morrow, dear Lady Lindy."

And with that, there was a number in her hands, a champagne bottle by her glass, and she said goodbye to him for the first time.

* * *

The second time she saw him was their date.

He has shown up in a suit and with a bunch of roses in his hands, smiling like the sun and practically glowing with the rare kind of joy that can only be found on someone who has been through hell and back, and can now really appreciate the little things in life.

Like taking out a pretty girl.

"Where're we going, soldier boy?" she asked, tightening her aviator jacket around her shoulders. "We going to eat? Or going to go sailing or driving?"

"Nope, not for you, Lady Lindy. I figured a girl like you needed something special, so I'm taking you flying."

"Well, there's something I've never done before!" Amelia exclaimed, rolling her eyes. Alfred only laughed and held out his arm for her, his eyes sparkling.

"Well, you don't strike me as a lady who finds eating and driving fun. You like being adventurous, and a hero for all of us."

Amelia blinked. "A hero? I just have fun."

"And that's what is so amazing about you, Lindy. You don't care what others think. You just follow your heart and do what makes you happy, and that's what's so amazing about you, Ms. Earhart." He smiled, his eyes glowing. "And that's what I like about you."

Amelia paused, blinking, fighting to keep her blush from showing.

"You...are very straightfoward."

Alfred laughed. "Yep, there any problem with that, Ms. Lindy?"

"No...just call me Amelia."

If Alfred smiled any wider, he would have become the sun itself.

They flew that night, and everything was honestly a blur to her. All she remembered was the sting of the wind, the warmth of his hands on hers, just holding her, burning his warmth into her as he let her steer into the stars.

She was pressed against his back, and she could feel his strong heartbeat. It reminded her of the ringing of the Liberty Bell, or the sound of the Atlantic Ocean pounding against the rocky shores of Plymouth.

Or the beating of an eagle's wings.

When the night gave way to the beginning of the morn, and the plane touched down on the wild field of the New York countryside, she was dizzy, hardly able to stand. Her breath was uneven, and she felt flushed and hot, like she had just been set aflight for the first time. Most of all, she could feel his warm hands on her shoulders, holding her steady. She could smell sea salt and sunshine and the sunflowers of Kansas on him, and when she looked in his eyes, she saw the stars themselves looking back at her.

"I...better go." she said softly to him.

And he only smiled back that soft, understanding smile, though the stars in his eyes dimmed with the sadness of a thousand lifetimes.

"I know. I'm not the one for you, Ms. Earhart, no matter how hard I want to be."

He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Amelia was no coward, after all.

The kiss was fierce and desperate, a million kisses given into one. She could taste him, taste the sorrow and age and a thousand secrets on his lips. It was warm and desperate, and his arms were tight around her waist and her arms were around his neck and she pulled him closer and closer, desprately trying to tell him all the things a strong woman like her couldn't put into words. His mouth was sweet and bitter and sad, and hers was young and fierce and hot and filled with a first, intense love.

When the kiss broke, he was looking at her with eyes filled with something she didn't quite know. Something between ecstasy and despair.

And she kissed him again and again, until the dawn broke and they were both left standing in the cold, autumn light, in the middle of a field, decked in flight gear and laughing at the strangeness of it all.

"Goodbye, Amelia Earhart, first woman pilot." he told her, giving her a salute. She saluted back, and he disappeared into the morning light, leaving her, shivering, behind.

She only met him one more time, before she died.

* * *

Amelia Earhart was married, had been engaged twice, and was now almost forty. She was a celebrity, an author, and planned to be a mother one day.

On the day she was to take flight, he was there, waiting.

He had not aged a single day since she had last seen him. He still looked not a day over nineteen, and wore the uniform of a World War Two colonel. He still wore that bomber jacket, and still looked at her with those same, intense, burning eyes.

She went to him, though she didn't know why. Standing before him, she could now look in his eyes. And he looked back at her, and smiled.

"I came to see you off." he told her, and Amelia shut her eyes, listening to the hushed whispers behind his voice. It was listening to the voices of thousands all in one, and she could hear the crashing of the ocean, and the whispers of grain in the midwest.

"You left."

"I had to."

"I know."

She lent against his chest, still listening to the ocean that was his heartbeat. She had to lean down to do so, but it was worth it, just to feel how familiar it was.

"I'm not going to see you again, Amelia."

"I can tell. Why else would you come visit an old woman like me?" she teased. He laughed.

"Because you are still beautiful, and you're still my Lady Lindy."

She smiled at him. "I'm married now, once more, you have no chance."

"Did I ever?"

"No, but it's still fun to try, isn't it? Adventure is something wonderful, soldier boy."

And he smiled, his eyes returning that familiar glow. "And this is why you're my hero."

Their last kiss was bittersweet, a farewell, a memory.

Alfred had watched her as she waved farewell, that glowing smile on her lips as she raced into the sunrise, forever chasing the eternal dawn.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he smiled.

She was the one he would forever chase, the one he would forever love, and eternally search for.

His Lady Lindy.

* * *

A/N

I hope you like this, 2p-talia!

Merry Christmas!


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